Culture Surfing

WHEELS OF FORTUNE: Drew Barrymore (from left), Ellen Page and Kristen Wiig

Drew Barrymore usually radiates high spirits and good cheer on screen, so it makes sense that her directorial debut, Whip It, would display the same virtues. In fact, Barrymore’s film shows more skill and subtlety than she often reveals in her acting, which comes as a particular surprise in a coming-of-age tale full of roller derby players with names such as Iron Maven and Maggie Mayhem.

Juno’s Ellen Page plays Bliss, a meek high schooler in a small Texas town who’s forced by her mother to compete in social events like the Blue Bonnet Pageant. Bliss finds herself beguiled when she sees three bohemian chicks on roller skates glide into a vintage clothing shop and hand out fliers for a roller derby match. Thrilled by the sight of uninhibited women brawling and working the crowd, Bliss tries out for and joins the Hurl Scouts. She’s soon skating alongside supportive tough cookies played by Kristen Wiig, singer Eve, and stuntwoman-turned actress Zoe Bell. Barrymore gives herself the comic relief role as sketchily drawn dum-dum Smashley Simpson.

Continue reading “Whip It’s good humor skates past sports cliches”

(Image by Darren Michaels)

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Mixed martial arts (MMA) has quickly become one of the most popular sports in the country, giving fans of boxing, wrestling and jujitsu the best of all worlds. Locally, Wild Bill’s Fight Nights have become the place to see some of the best up-and-coming amateur fighters make names for themselves alongside more established professional grapplers.

This primal display of aggression returns this week with one of its most eclectic cards yet. Scheduled fights include a heavyweight bout between Jon Ivey and Kevin Jordan and a main event pitting Diego Saraiva against Arman Loktev. Also on the card is Georgia’s first pro women’s fight with Lizzy Miller and Tanya Reyes (both undefeated) doing battle.

World Extreme Cagefighting Lightweight Champion Jamie Varner will not only be on hand for the fights, but will also host a training seminar at Knuckle Up Fitness in Sandy Springs for those who want to get a little bit closer to the action.

Wild Bill’s Fight Night. Fri., April 17, 8 p.m. (doors open at 7 p.m.). $25-$800. Wild Bill’s, 2075 Market St., Duluth. 404-626-2126. www.undisputedproductions.com.

Jamie Varner training seminar. Sat., April 18. 2-5 p.m. $40-$60. KnuckleUp Fitness, 5956 Roswell Road, Sandy Springs. 404-943-0609. www.knuckleupfitness.com.

Continue reading “Bench Press: Weekend sports roundup” »

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After a sold-out doubleheader last month, the Atlanta Rollergirls bring their girl-on-girl roller derby action back to the Shrine Center this Saturday for Blood, Sweat and Fishnet, the season’s second dual bout. The first round features the Denim Demons, a team that owes its entire existence to the punk-tinged thrash of the humorously homoerotic Norwegian band known as Turbonegro. The Demons take on the Japanese-themed Sake Tuyas. Thisis the first bout of the season the Atlanta teams, both of which will also be debuting new skaters.

Following an intermission, the second bout pits the Atlanta Rumble Bs (the league’s b-team, which is sort of a junior varsity version of Atlanta’s Dirty South Derby Girls all-star team) against the New Jax City Rollers from Jacksonville, Fla. Jacksonville’s derby girls have a reputation for their hardcore roughness, but the Rumble Bs are some of Atlanta’s best skaters who can take a hit as well as they can give one.

Ticket holders who wear a Clap Your Hands Say Yeah shirt will be eligible to win one of 10 pairs of tickets to an exclusive performance by the band at the Loft on April 20. And if you care to keep the party going after the bouts are over, you can join the Rollergirls at their afterparty at Graveyard Tavern in East Atlanta.

Sat. March 28, 5 and 7 p.m. $12-$20. Yaarab Shrine Center, 400 Ponce de Leon Ave. 404-872-5818. www.atlantarollergirls.com.

(Photo courtesy Atlanta Rollergirls)

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